


Forever is a really long time

by Art_is_not_what_I_create



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Elf, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, BAMF Tony Stark, Immortal Tony Stark, M/M, Major Character Injury, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Protective Loki (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2019-10-08 10:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17384798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Art_is_not_what_I_create/pseuds/Art_is_not_what_I_create
Summary: Tony knew he wasn't really Midgardian. He knew that he's going to have to fake his own death and leave Earth or pretend being someone else.The other option was to reveal himself. Tony even thought that he may do that one day. But if keeping his secret was the only way to spend at least a little more time with Loki he would stay quiet no matter if it hurts him to lie to the one he truly loves.But secrets are always revealed at one point.Just Tony didn't knew he has more secrets than he acknowledged.





	1. They say it's easy to leave you behind

**Author's Note:**

> So...  
> This is my first fanfiction. And English is not my mother language so I think there are mistakes. But I'm writing this just for fun and I'm sorry if you don't like it. 
> 
> And I don't know how to make a good summary.
> 
> Also
> 
> This work is not really based on comics, mythology or whatever. I don't know anything about Alfheim in Marvel. I just know it's one of the Realms and there are Elves so I decided to use this name.
> 
> Elves here are immortal (well, not really. They just stop getting older at some point) mostly because I just watched The Hobbit movie and I fell in love with the Elves in it. In this fanfiction every Elf has long hairs because of the same reason. 
> 
> Wait. This notes are getting too long.
> 
> So yeah.
> 
> If you actually cared enough to read this 
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy reading this fanfiction.
> 
> Have fun!

Almost 3000 years ago

In the land of Alfheim lived the pair of Elves. Man - Lathlaeril, young but wise, intelligent as much as strong, heir of the throne, and woman - Ithirae, beautiful, clever and loving. Both of them were in love with each other and were ready to sacrifice themselves for another one.

They met young Asgardian -  
Heimdall. All of the three loved hunting and spending time in forest. Quickly they became good friends - they trusted each other with their own lifes. 

But then war came. Alfheim was protecting one of the Infinity Stones - the Soul Stone. It was supposed to be a secret somehow one of alien races got to know where was it hidden. Not a long time later it attacked the Elves, trying to take the Stone from them with cruelty and weapons.

All of the battles had consequences in lifes of thousands. Winning one of the battles cost Alfheim the life of its ruler, Lathlaeril's father - Maeraddyth.

After the attack Elves were waiting for help from their quite powerful ally - Asgardians. And the warriors of Asgard came. But they didn't come to help. Odin's army was waiting until the end of the war and then, knowing that the Soul Stone was in Alfheim they attacked Elves as well. Defences of the last ones couldn't stand the attack for very long. They lost many warriors alongsode with their king and though their weapons were one of the best in all Nine Realms there wasn't enough trained people to use them.

Not long after the second attack Asgardians managed to come to the place where they tought the Soul Stone was hidden. But the Infinity Stone wasn't there already. Knowing that they wouldn't find it they came back to Asgard in anger, leaving behind not much more than ruin and death in Alfheim. Not satisfied Odin told his people to kill the remaining Elven warriors hoping that the new king -Lathlaeril will tell him where The Soul Stone is. Not many was coming home after the war.

When the war was over and Asgardians left Alfheim, Lathlaeril married Ithirae, the one who kept him sane after seeing the tragedy of his people. After everything they lost they managed to rebuild many cities but that wasn't enough. The society of Elves after all of the battles was really smaller. That was something they couldn't rebuild so fast because giving a birth to a child on Alfheim was extremely rare.

 That's why Elves were avoiding war if it was only possible. They weren't getting old which meant they could live forever if someone didn't kill them. If having a child on Alfheim was as often as on Midgard when there wouldn't be any war there would be to much Elves to live in only one Realm. The nature itself made it harder to them to bring a beginning to a new life.

Betrayal of their ally was a powerful strike then. Seeing how much Elves lost Lathlaeril  wanted to promise himself that as soon as there would be an occasion he would take a revenge on Asgard. But he knew that he cannot lose even more people than he already lost so he never did anything that would start another war.

That didn't mean that all of the Elves were acting the same. Of course they felt their loses. They hated Asgardians since then. Nevertheless they couldn't do much about that. They trusted their king and always stayed loyal to him.

Instead they took their own little revenges. 

Odin, a ruler of Asgard pretended that what he did didn't happen. He didn't want people to know about his cruelty and betrayal in battles against Elves. Because of that most of Asgardians, since not all of them were warriors, didn't knew about anything.

Just after the war ended many of non-warrior Asgardians travelled to Alfheim. They were looking for Elves's amazing weapons and many other things you can find on Alfheim. 

Elves often tolerated them at the beginning pretending nothing happened too. Just after gaining their trust Elves almost always tricked them, betrayed them, sometimes stole. They never killed any of them. But most of them didn't want to kill anybody unless it was necessary, especially when they knew that Asgardians that were visiting them after the war wasn't the warriors that killed their families. After all they blamed Odin the most.

But when any Asgardian came to them when he or she needed help they almost always wouldn't give it. When Asgardian was in very bad state they just wouldn't trick him or rob him. Unless it was a child. Elves knew how much matters the life of children and they weren't such monsters to let any kid die when they could easily help.

...

 

After some time Asgardians would notice how an Elf acted when he or she met Asgardian on their way. They haven't heard about anything that happened between Asgard and Alfheim so they didn't know what caused Elves to trick or betray them. They soon lost their trust for Elves and started avoiding the Realm if it was possible.

By that time Elves would already be regarded on Asgard as thieves and liars.

1500 years later Thor, Son of Odin was born. Nearly 500 years after that Odin would adopt Loki not telling him about his real origin.

No one ever told any of the Princes about what happened on Alfheim after Elves won the war against aliens. Brothers were raised thinking about them what almost everyone on Asgard thought. Elves were thieves, liars, and absolutely not worth of any trust.

They even got a chance to see it themselves. After one of the battles they had to stop in Alfheim. Just this one time Heimdall wasn't in their Realm and couldn't open a portal for them. They had to come back to Asgard without it.

They had to come to the kingdom of Elves with other warriors to rest, sleep and eat before continuing their way to their homeland. 

They stopped in not really big city - Mevelian. One of the oldest of cities in Alfheim. It was extremely beautiful especially for demigods who have never been in any Elves's cities before.

It was the first time for Thor and Loki to see Elves too. Brothers were amazed by how beautiful this creatures looked. By then Loki was nearly 300 years old and Thor was over 700. Nevertheless they have never seen anyone as charming as inhabitants of Alfheim.

Thor definitely wasn't looking for love then. Especially in Alfheim between the creatures so often slandered in Asgard. But Loki have met someone. He fell in love for one of the Elves. Tall, well-built and incredibly handsome one. 

What Loki didn't knew was that the Elf was one of the warriors that fought against Asgardians. He didn't knew that the one he loved have seen Elves being killed by fighters of Asgard.

The Elf became closer to Loki just to one day betray him, steal all the weapons from him, his brother and their companions. Then the creature made them leave Alfheim threatening that if they wouldn't he would kill them in their sleep.

God of Thunder and heartbroken Loki had to leave Alfheim with other Asgardian warriors. But princes knew they would never trust any Elf after that.

.

It has been over 1000 years since The God of Mischief was adopted when another war started on Alfheim. This time the one to attack Elves would be Thanos himself. He was looking for the Soul Stone just as aliens and later Odin were looking for it before.


	2. You know I saw a city burning

ALFHEIM, YEAR 1970

 

   
The time when Ithirae gave birth to her and Lathlaeril's child came. All kingdom was celebrating the day. Elves were happy knowing that their rulers had what they were waiting for so long. The heir that would be loved by its parents and the population of Alfheim.

The child was named 'Lyari'. It was a boy. He had grey, almost silver eyes and datk hair that one day would be longer than most of Midgardian's and more straight than most of Asgardian's. Of course he had pointed ears as every other Elf too. 

Happiness over Lyari's birth lasted for months.

Ithirae watched her son as he grew up older and learned everything he only could. Since the beginning of his live she would know that her son was already very intelligent and smart. She was so proud of him.

Lathlaeril loved his child as much as Ithirae did. He spent many days with his son teaching him how to fight, use a bow or a sword even if the ruler didn't really wanted to. He knew his son was too young. But Lyari wanted to be like his father and his parents were not really able to stop him. So the king trained his son. 

Ithirae taught her son magic since she could see how powerful he was even being only few years old then. He quickly learned all of the spells she knew.

...

 

ALFHEIM, YEAR 1976

 

This war was coming to an end. Young Lyari could feel it. And he could feel on his skin that these days were meant to decide if the Elves were going to win. And he could feel that he has to fight.

But his parents wouldn't let him. He was sure about that. They would tell him he's to young. And he knew they were right. He was just six years old. But he could already aim and shoot arrows as good as not many others could even if they were older. And he could already use a sword even if he wouldn't use it in this battle.

So he took his bow and ran away from the castle running to place where he heard the most battles were happening.

He stopped in forest leaving some distance between himself and battlefield. He placed his bow in one of his hands and arrow in the other. He aimed and shot. He shot all the monsters he could. Lyari was sure he heard when someone called them Chitauri. These creatures were merciless. They killed everyone they could.

He haven't seen any war before. He was really terrified because of everything he saw that day. But he knew he couldn't stop. He shot and shot and shot and saw no end in it.

But then he heard an explosion and saw the fire burning everything on its way. It was getting closer to him. He placed his bow back on his back and started to run.

Lyari saw a big stone between the trees and hid behind it. He felt heat on his skin but the stone protected him from the fire.

Few moments later the fire stopped burning. Lyari came from behind the stone and looked around. There was nothing. Not even any trees or grass left. It was only him, the stone and ground. 

Lyari sat with his back against the stone. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He knew many of this warriors. But they were gone. The fire took them. He would never hear their battle songs and never ask them for stories from fights they fought. There was no longer 'them'. He could just hope that on other battlefields there wasn't anything as horrific as what he just saw.

And then it hit him. He didn't knew where his parents were fighting. What if they were here too? If they didn't, what if something like that happened everywhere? 

No. He couldn't lost them. He haven't saw anyone with magic as big as his mother's and any fighter as good as his father today. And he didn't hear anything like an explosion except the one his just saw. But he was thinking about that more and more and after some time he wasn't so sure. 

He didn't want to come home. What if his parents wouldn't come back? Instead he was sitting still and he cried until there was no longer any tears in his eyes.

He didn't  knew how much time he spent just sitting there when he heard someone shouting his name. 

He recognized this voice immediately.

It was his mother's.

And the next shout in different voice this time.

It belonged to his father.

He stood up and ran.

And he saw two figures in battle armors.

He ran faster.

So did the figures.

And then they met in the middle of something once called as battlefield. The figures held him tight and started crying as well. It was a tears of both sadness and joy. Sadness from knowledge about all the lifes gone and not turning back. And joy from knowledge that their son is alive and not injured in any way.

They were walking back to their castle in silence until Lyari raised his head and asked ''Did we win?''. His voice wasn't happy. It was almost hopeless.

Then Lathlaeril said "Yes, my son. But we lost so much anyway".

Lyari answered "I know. I saw that".

They walked in silence for the rest of their way back. When they reached the castle Ithirae spoke for the first time since their family reunion. 

"My dear Lyari. We have to go and pack everything you will need".

"Are we going somewhere?" The boy asked.

"No". His mother's voice was completely sad now. "You are".

Lyari wanted to ask why. But instead he just went to his room with his mother. He started packing. Ithirae helped him to choose what to take.


	3. Take my past and take my sense

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's another chapter. There will be more of them today but I have to read them again to see if everything is mostly alright in them.

A few hours later Lyari was ready to go. He went outside the castle with his mother and met his father there. There was a chest next to the second one.

Then his mother said "In the place where you are going to live there may not be anyone as you are. You will have to shift your shape into Midgardian's form".

So the kid changed himself into a human. His hairs stayed the same color it was but it was shorter than before. His eyes were brown now and his ears were no longer pointed.

"You can't show anyone what you really look like when you are in Midgard. Remember that" Ithirae said.

"Even if it is someone that I will really care about?" asked Lyari.

"Especially if it's someone you will care about" was an answer he got.

"You have to promise me, my son, that one day when you will be already grown up you will open this chest. And promise me that you will never forget us, your parents and that we love you more than anything" Lathlaeril said.

"I promise" answered Lyari "And I love you too"

Then his parents held him like it was the last time they could do that. Actually, it could be true. The boy thought that this moment should last forever. He didn't want to go. But there was a war and he knew that his parents knew what they were doing and they were always doing what was right.

When they stopped hugging he looked into his mother's and father's eyes. There was sadness even though they were smiling. 

Then his mother put her two fingers on his temple and started whispering some words he couldn't understand but he could tell it was some kind of a spell.

Seconds later everything he saw was an orange light. There was nothing less and nothing more.

He felt power. So much power that he thought for a moment that he can't take it.

It was really weird. It was like he could feel orange all over his body.

Until there was no longer any fingers on his temple and he felt normal again. He looked on his parents and saw one more man next to them.

"I'm Heimdall. I will take you to Midgard. Come with me, my child" was everything the man said before he turned away and started going. And Lyari walked behind him.

He heard his parents saying "Goodbye our son. We hope we will see you again" and there was light. Again. Not orange though. It was more like a big, bright rainbow.

 

Few moments later he noticed that he is no longer on Alfheim.

There were trees but they were shorter than in his Realm.

From where he and Heimdall stood he could see some kind of a city. It was different than Iherius where he was raised.

"What is that?" asked Lyari.

"That is, my boy, the city of New York. It's the place you are going to live in" said Heimdall.

"Then why are we not going there?"

"We are waiting for someone"

They were standing there for few minutes until they heard someone's steps.

They turned around to see a women with blond hairs and few wrinkles on her face.

"Hello. I am Maria. I am here to take care of you. What's your name?" She said.

Lyari wanted to answer but before he could say anything Heimdall already spoke.

"His name is Anthony now" the man said.

"Well, Tony, come with me. I'll take you home" said Maria.

And they started walking straight to the city in front of them.

"Are you coming with us, Heimdall?" the woman asked.

"I have to speak with someone before I go back"

 

And that's how Lyari, or maybe Tony, stayed on Earth. He met Howard Stark, the man he was supposed to call father now. But Howard almost never had any time for him. The most he saw the man was in public. Stark was cold and didn't care about his son. He was looking for some guy from a plane who saved New York or something.

But Maria quickly noticed his intelligence and abilities. He sent him to the best schools that were in America.

Then Tony met Peggy Carter. He soon found out that she was the person that Heimdall spoke with. She knew who he really was. 

Peggy was training with him for years. She taught him everything she could. She wasn't as good at fighting as his real father or mother. But he was always happy to spend time with her because only then he could be in his natural form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is short. But I want to post as much as I can because I already wrote some of it and I have to post it before I start writing again. Writing is almost as much addicting as reading so I can't wait to do that.


	4. Go ahead and cry little boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said before there is one more chapter today. I hope it's good.
> 
> I changed the year when Howard and Maria died but I wanted Tony to be at MIT then. And I warn you that in the notes at the end there is my reflection that you don't have to read. But you can of course.

CAMBRIDGE, DECEMBER 1986

Tony was in his room at MIT when he heard someone knocking to his door. He was alone since Rhodey, his roommate hasn't come back yet. 

He went to open. When he did he saw tall, black man. He seemed extremely serious.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Tony asked.

"I'm Nicholas Fury. I was sent here to tell you something. I think you will need to sit down" the man said.

Tony, to his own surprise, did excactly what he was said. He sat down on his chair and told the man to speak.

"I think you need to know this before it will be said in public. There was an accident yesterday. Your parents were driving when their car crashed. They didn't make it" 

 

Tony didn't say anything this time. He was just staring with a blank glare. Fury seeing no reaction just said "I am sorry" and walked out.

When the teenager was alone again he wanted to cry. He wanted to cry for Maria. For the woman that took care of him here on Midgard even though he wasn't her son. He wasn't sad for Howard. The man never treated Tony as his son and Tony never treated him as his father.

Minutes passed and he decided he can't stop it anymore. He locked himself in the bathroom and stood in front of mirror. 

He changed himself to his real form. He didn't know why. He hasn't done that for five years now. Five years passed since Peggy decided that she can't teach him nothing more. Of course she said that he can meet her anytime when he needs her but he knew that she had to work and really didn't have time for that even if she wanted to.

Tony looked in the mirror and he wasn't looking like human anymore. The figure he saw had longer hairs, different ears and grey eyes instead of brown. He needed some time to understand that it's really him. He wasn't human. How could he almost forget that?

 

He started crying. He should have known that one day it's gonna happen. All this Midgardians he met on Earth. They will all die sooner or later. He's immortal but they're not. His 'parents' are already gone. Peggy one day will be gone too.

Maria was like mother to him. She was the one that made him feel like human, like Midgard was his home. She was the one that came to him after he had nightmares about the explosion he saw on his last day in Alfheim. She was there when he missed his real parents to tell him that everything will be alright.

He cried for hours and didn't even want to stop.  
 

...

 

"Tones? Are you here? Tony?"

When Tony heard Rhodey's voice he almost jumped. He hasn't noticed it was the time for his roommate to come back.

"Yeah, I'm here" Tony said through his sobs.

Rhodey tried to open the door to the bathroom but soon he noticed it was locked.

"What happened? Tones, please let me in" he said.

Tony had to use all his strength to turn himself back to human. He slowly stood up and opened the door.

Rhodey quickly noticed his best friend's tears and hugged him. He wanted to ask him what happened again but he knew that Tony will tell him after some time anyway.

He didn't knew how much time passed when he heard Tony speaking again.

"They are gone. My parents. There was an accident. I couldn't even said goodbye"

"Oh god. I'm so sorry, Tony"

They spent a night mostly not saying anything.  They were laying on a bed and listening to music until they fell asleep.

Tony knew that one day even Rhodey will be gone. But he decided to be happy about every minute he spent with his best friend if it was everything he's going to get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah...
> 
> I find it really sad.
> 
> The whole idea of immortality. 
> 
> Just the knowledge that you'll lose everyone you care about is so sad.
> 
> It's just... I feel like we are living with hope that everyone we love will be alive tomorrow, days after, months after, years, decades. But we don't know when they will actually leave us. Because some of them will.
> 
> But being immortal is like you know that everything you know now one day will be gone. And that seems to be as I said really sad.
> 
> So I think it's important for us (even though we are mortals and most likely we won't lose everyone) to acknowledge that some people will leave us.
> 
> But I think that it'ś more important to accept that. And to not be depressed because of it.
> 
> Of course it will hurt when we lose someone.
> 
> But right now, while having families and friends we should spend as much time as we can with them and be happy for every single moment we have.
> 
>  
> 
> I don't really know why did I write this.  
> It's just like that.  
> But thank you for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

YEAR 2018

It has been two years since their so called 'Civil War' and one year since Thor and Loki came back from Asgard, which clearly doesn't exist anymore. 

Thor didn't spend much time on Earth anyway. He was somewhere in space with other Asgardians most of the time. Actually, he was their king now. Right, Odin was dead too.

It was different with Loki though. He was almost always on Earth. Thor promised everyone that his brother was good now and the prince stayed to become one of the New Avengers. 

Yeah. The New Avengers. The members of this team were Iron Man as a leader,  War Machine since he could walk again, Black Panther when he wasn't in Wakanda, Doctor Strange, Spiderman but only when really needed, Dr Banner after he came back with Thor and Loki (why did he ended up with the gods Tony still didn't know), Vision and Loki now.

No one knew where the Black Widow was. No one saw Natasha since the 'Civil War'. Tony suspected that she can be sometimes in Wakanda to meet with the Rogues  but he didn't think that she's there all the time.

Of course T'challa didn't tell them anything about the Rogues in his country. But Tony wasn't stupid. He could tell that at least some of them were there.

Anyway, the real thing that surprised all of them was how close Tony and Loki became to each other when the second one came to Earth after Ragnarok. 

Nobody really knew how did that happen. Just after some time Loki started coming to Tony's workshop just to spend time with the genius.

Not really much later Tony kissed Loki. It just happened. Then they were kissing more often.  
And they started sharing a bed.

Loki soon found out about Tony's nightmares and panic attacks. He would always be there to calm Tony down after every vision that would make him panic. One time it was Afghanistan, the other would be about the wormhole (Loki actually felt really guilty about that). But the most often it was Siberia.

The last one made Loki want to find these Rogues and made them feel the pain they caused. But Tony didn't want him to. Stark knew that he made big mistakes himself. He knew that it wasn't Barnes's fault that his 'parents' died. Just seeing someone breaking Maria's neck caused emotions he couldn't really stop himself at the time.

He didn't think the Accords were mistake though. They just needed to be changed. He has already put Ross in prison, the Raft was destroyed and heroes wasn't in danger because of it.

But he was still working on them.

 

There was one more thing causing Tony's nightmares. Loki quickly realised that. But he couldn't find out what was that. It frustrated him because he couldn't help when he didn't know how.

 

Tony thought that having Loki by his side was... really nice. They relationship was kind of weird. They never told each other anything close to 'I love you'. Maybe they were a little bit afraid of that. But he was happy anyway.

Mostly.

Until he realised that it's not gonna last forever. One day he will have to fake his own death. He wanted to laugh about that sometimes. He was immortal and Loki would live for thousands of years. They could spend so much time together. But he would have to tell Loki the truth.

He really thought about doing that sometimes.

But he knew about that hate between the Elves and Asgardians. 

One day he thought that he will tell him everything. But not yet. He will live in lie for much longer if that means that he won't lose Loki so soon.

 

...

 

It has been two weeks since Loki, Thor and Bruce left the Earth when a spaceship landed next to Avengers Compound. But it didn't belong to gods. When Tony saw the ship he quickly noticed that he hasn't seen it before.

 Moments later he and the rest of the New Avengers team were standing in front of the ship. They were armed and waiting for the spacecraft to move or to open itself. 

It did actually opened. When that happened Avengers could see seven people inside. But they recognized only one of them. When the God of Thunder left the spacecraft Tony started asking questions.

"Thor? Where's Loki?" Tony asked. "Who are they?"

The only one person looking like human in the ship now wanted to answer but before he could say anything someone else walked from behind the group and started speaking.

"They are the Guardians of the Galaxy or something. The human is Peter Quill, on his right is Gamora, on his left is Drax. The raccoon is Rocket and the tree is... He is Groot"

"Bruce? What happened?" Tony was really confused. 'Why didn't they come back the same way as always? Where's Loki? Is he okay?' Tony wanted to ask.

"My friend, I am afraid we have to talk" said Thor.

...

 

The New Avengers came back to compound with the Guardians. Bruce started telling them what happened when Thor and Tony left the room and they did actually talk. Thor was completely serious which was extremely rare for the god. It made Tony really concerned but he let the king talk.

"We were with Asgardians when we were attacked by Thanos. He was looking for Tesseract. I thought it was destroyed on Asgard but it looks like I was wrong. Loki had it all the time. He gave it to Thanos in exchange for my life. Then my brother attacked him" Thor said. 

"I know you were close with my brother and it will hurt you as much as it hurts me. But Loki... He is..." Thor was interrupted before he could say anything more.

"Alive"

Both Tony and Thor turned their heads to see the God of Mischief himself.

"Brother? I saw you were killed by Thanos with my own eye" Thor didn't sound really convinced but he held his brother with a smile on his face. 

"I'm okay. I'm not dead" Loki said. When they stopped hugging he turned back to Tony.

"I missed you" he said.

Hearing that Tony kissed his lover. And they were kissing until they needed to breath again.

"I missed you too" the genius said.

 

"I think I should leave you two alone now" 

Tony almost forgot about his lover's older brother for a minute. He thought that he should be blushing right now but he didn't really care.

He hasn't seen Loki for weeks. He even thought that he's dead because of what Thor was saying.

 

"No. We don't have a time for this if we want to stop Thanos" Loki said.

So they headed back to the room where the rest of the Avengers and the Guardians were.

 

...

 

"So you say that Thanos is coming and he wants to kill half of the universe. And you let him take one of the Stones. So he has two of them" Strange said.

"I did it to safe my brother. Besides he would take it from me anyway" Loki answered. "And he has three Infinity Stones now"

"The Reality Stone was on Knowhere.  We weren't fast enough to stop Thanos from taking it" the green woman said. 'What was her name?' Tony thought. 'Ga.. Gamora? Yeah, that's it'.

"So he has the Power Stone, Space Stone and Reality Stone. Vision has the Mind Stone and I have the Time Stone" the sorcerer continued.

"If we want to stop Thanos we should destroy one of them" Vision said. "Doctor Strange promised to protect the Eye of Agamoto. There is only one more stone we have"

"Hey! No no no. We are not going to sacrifice you" Rhodey said.

There was a moment of silence before Strange started speaking again.

"So we have to find the Soul Stone then"  

"I thought it was on Vormir. But Thanos took me there when I told him that. I escaped when he was talking with some guy. But the Soul Stone... It wasn't there. At least not anymore" Gamora said.

"There was only one more place where we know it was" said Thor.

"Alfheim" Loki guessed.

"Yes, my brother. We should go here and see if it's still there"

"An 'Alfheim'? What is that?" Bruce asked.

"It's one of the Nine Realms. The land of Elves" Thor answered.

"The Elves are real? Why am I not really surprised anymore?" Rhodey said. "So you are telling us we should go there. What are we waiting for?"

"Well, the thing is that the Elves don't like Asgardians. And we kind of hate them to" Loki answered.

Tony couldn't say that these words didn't hurt him. But he decided to get over it right now. There were more important things to think about.

"So maybe we should go without you two" he said.

"No. I won't let you go there without us. You cannot trust any Elf. We are going with you" Loki said. "And we have to get more people to fight. We can be not able to get the Soul Stone and even if we do there most likely will be a war on Earth anyway and we have to protect it from Thanos"

"So the old team then? Are we getting back the Rogues?" Tony asked.

"I think we have to. It's time to end your 'Civil War'. We should call as many of them as we can" Strange said.

"I have a way to contact Rogers" Tony winced but continued. "I can call him"

Loki frowned at him. The God knew how close to death Tony was in Siberia and saw the scars on his lover's chest caused by shield. But he knew it was necessary so he didn't say anything.

"I think T'challa can call the ones that are in Wakanda" Tony said.

"The Rogues are in Wakanda?" Rhodey looked very confused at the moment.

"How did you know?" T'challa asked. "Besides not all of them are here"

"I would be dissapointed if they're all in the same place. But the ones we can call can possibly contact the rest of them" Tony supposed.

"You think they will agree to help us" T'challa assumed.

Tony shrugged. "I think they will be happy for finding a way to come back to US without signing the Accords. And the half of the universe is in danger. They will definitely agree"

"So we are doing it. We are assembling our old team" Bruce said.

"Yeah, it seems like we do"

"Hey! Guys, I think it's very cool that you are going to meet your old friends but what about us?" Quill asked. 

"Oh, right. We will think about your team. But first let's assemble our" Tony said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...
> 
> That's it.
> 
> I wanted to post it yesterday but I lost it and I had to write it all again.
> 
> I did and I think it's not so bad. I hope you like it


	6. Chapter 6

Tony knew that he wasn't going to sleep well that night.

He was doing things in his workshop and he didn't really think that even if he could go to sleep early he wouldn't wake up because of nightmares. If he would fall asleep at all.

And as much as he wanted to he couldn't really say that it wasn't because of the meeting that was going to happen tomorrow.

But it wasn't like he was really afraid of Rogers or Barnes. Tony knew that if he wanted them dead they would be already six feet under.

The point was that he didn't. He didn't want to kill or hurt them now.

In Siberia things were different though. He was full of rage then. Honestly he didn't actually remember much from the fight. He remembered watching the video and asking Steve 'Did you know?'. He even remembered the answer and the first strike. But what happened after that? He couldn't tell. He knew that he didn't want to kill any of them even though he wasn't so sure about doing them any harm.

Anyway, the next thing he knows is that he was lying terrified on the floor waiting for Rogers to thrust the shield into Tony's neck. But the shield landed in his chest instead. 

Well, maybe it was his own suit that cut through his body and made him bleed, not the shield itself but it was the Rogers' hit that caused this not so beautiful scar on Tony's chest.

Yeah, just like the scar from his arc reactor wasn't enough.

Of course, Tony could hide his new mark behind some spell. But he didn't want to keep more secrets than he already had.

Besides it was reminding him to not trust anyone. Even the ones he called his friends.

Which was different with Rhodey. Tony knew the man too long to think that his best friend is going to betray him one day. 

He even started trusting Loki now. He knew it was risky. The God tried to kill him not even seven years ago.

But the people change, right?

 

Speaking of the God, Tony didn't even notice Loki sneaking into the workshop.

"So... Will you come to bed with me now or am I supposed to wait another few hours for you?" Loki said.

"No. Just give me a minute"

Tony looked very tired. Loki noticed that in the moment he walked into the room.

"Everything alright?" He asked.

"Uhm... Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't it be?"

Loki couldn't help but see how Tony was avoiding an eye contact.

"Hey! Don't lie to me" Loki came closer. "I can see something is wrong"

He didn't get an answer.

"It's about the Rogues, isn't it?"

Still no answer.

"You know that you don't have to hide anything from me?"

Just then Loki was close enough to see what Tony was working on.

The arm. Metal arm. Next to the shield. Red, blue and white shield.

The God sighed deeply.

"And you know that you don't have to do this...?"

"The point is that I have to" Tony finally spoke. "If we want to save a fucking half of the universe, I can't let my emotions stop us on a fight with Thanos"

Tony's hands were shaking now.

"I can't have a panic attack every time I'm looking on these" the genius pointed at the arm and shield. "And if I can make these better, not even my own brain can stop me"

"Tony... You are not alone, you know?" Loki stood behind the man and leant down a little to hug his tense form from behind. "And it's okay if you're afraid of them. I saw what they did"

Tony's body visibly relaxed under his touch. Maybe not completely but Loki counted it as a win anyway.

 

"Besides, I understand you. Going to Alfheim... well, me and Elves... let's just say it won't be easy for me to not kill any of them. So this thing with trying to not screw it up because of emotions - we are in this together" Loki said.

 

'It won't be easy for me to not kill any of them.' These words rang in Tony's ears as he started panicking. 

Would Loki kill him if he learns the truth? 

 

Before Loki ended Tony became stiff again. But this time it was far more violent.

Loki took a step back and slowly turned Tony around to face him.

"Hey, look at me" the god said softly. "What happened?"

Tony looked up to meet with the taller man's gaze. Right then Loki could see a fear in his brown eyes even though it was different than before.

"I am not going to hurt you" he said almost whispering. But Tony almost didn't move at all. "Just please, come with me"

 

"What...? Yeah, just give me a minute" Tony eventually answered looking only little less terrified.

"I'll be waiting for you"

Loki walked out of the workshop. He hated leaving Tony behind like this but he knew that he can't do anything to help this time.

 

...

 

"So, did you manage to make him go to sleep?"

Loki didn't expect to meet Rhodey on his way in the middle of the night. Altough he wasn't really surprised. The man was often concerned about his best friend's wellbeing.

"I don't think so. He seemed to be really scared. And I'm not even sure why" Loki said.

"Maybe you shouldn't left him like that" the human suggested.

"Yeah, I would definitely stay there. But the thing is... He seemed to be afraid of me"

Rhodey frowned. "What happened?"

"That's what I was talking about. I don't know"

"Okay. Just be sure to be there for him tomorrow. It's not going to be easy day"

"Don't worry. I'll protect him no matter what happens" Loki promised.

 

...

 

Tony finally came to their now for months shared bedroom. He didn't say almost anything. He just went to sleep saying quickly "Good Night".

When Loki woke up he was again alone on the room. He was truly concerned. It was really rare for Tony to be awake so early. 

Usually when Loki tried to wake him up, Tony would just say something like "don't wake me up at such ungodly hour" and go back to sleep.

Today it was unnecessary.

 

Loki eventually found his lover sitting in kitchen. With a cup of coffee. Which was actually to be expected. Even if the God of Mischief was pretty sure that most of the beings in the Nine Realms were living on many kinds of food and water Loki was convinced that Tony was living simply on coffee. And alcohol. And pizza.

"You're awake. And it's early" Loki noticed.

"Well, isn't it important day today?" Tony smiled though his smile didn't reach his eyes.

"You don't really seem to be a person who cares about important days. Anyway, are you alright?"

"You already asked me that last night. I'm fine" Tony slowly stood up and headed to the coffee machine. 

"And you still didn't give me a honest answer. What was it, then? You made me worried" Loki said.

"Oh. That one. I should probably sleep more. And drink less coffee. It will be okay"

"Sounds a little bit hypocritical to me" the god pointed at Tony's cup of coffee which was full again. "But I am not here to judge. I am just worried."

"Yeah, like we don't have other things to think about right now. The party should be here soon" Tony said and walked out of the kitchen with Loki just behind him.

"You talked to Rogers then." That wasn't really a question but even if it was Loki was almost sure he knew the answer.

"Sort of" 

 

"Boss, you have guests" F.R.I.D.A.Y's voice filled the room.

"Well it's about the time" Tony said.

"You made them come early" Loki noted.

"Saving the universe clearly can't wait until noon. It's great that they came anyway"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for not updating it earlier  
> But I had more things to do than I expected before.
> 
> Anyway
> 
> Here's the next chapter.  
> I have another one almost ready so I hope I will post it today.
> 
> And I know that they're not in Alfheim yet but they will.
> 
> I promise.
> 
>  
> 
> And...
> 
> I wanted to thank you all. 
> 
> For reading, leaving kudos and comments.
> 
> It means really much to me that someone likes it. I really didn't expect that.
> 
> So you don't even know how thankful I am <3


	7. Chapter 7

When Tony and Loki were close to an entrance to the compound the rest of their team was already there. Their new mostly alien friends were there too.

"So who's opening the doors?" Rhodey asked.

"I feel like I should do to honours" Tony said. "Open it, F.R.I.D.A.Y"

Tony put on his sunglasses when the doors opened and he stood in front of two figures standing outside.

"Rogers, Barnes" he said. "I see you got a message"

"Do you mean the one saying, I can quote 'Get yours and your new best friends' asses back to compound. The end is near'?" Steve took a step closer and pointed at the compound. "Yeah. Can we?"

"Sure. Seriously come in. We have to talk. Long time no see."

 

"Did you seriously texted him? Couldn't you just call? How did you even know if he was going to read it?" Tony heard when Steve and Bucky entered the building. Nevertheless he decided to ignore Rhodey's comment.

"There is more of you than the last time" Steve looked at all people in the compound. There was a lot of them that he hasn't seen before. "Wait, is that a tree?"

"Sort of. I'll introduce you later. Right now we have to talk" Tony said.

Loki couldn't help but notice that Tony's hands were shaking. Definitely less than last night but you still could see it if you were looking at them. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Completely and truly shure" Tony assured him.

...

 

"I wanted to apologize" Tony spoke when they were finally alone in the conference room. "And you better listen because it's not going to happen again."

Tony sat in the chair and gestured for the other two to do the same.

"I'm sorry. But not for everything. I'm not really sorry about the Accords. I don't think it's wrong. Maybe it was at the beginning but my plan was to change it actually" 

"Last time I checked there wasn't anything good in it" Steve said when he and Bucky sat on the other side of a table.

"Maybe instead you should see what was wrong. Like the Raft. Which is not a problem anymore. Or Ross. You think I didn't know him before? When I signed the Accords I already knew what he did. I sent him into a jail on a first opportunity. But the idea of letting more than a hundred countries speak is actually good. And as you can see since you are here that we can make some choices by our own. Like the one to get you here without arresting you. But it's not what I wanted to say today"

Tony took his sunglasses off and looked at Bucky. "I'm sorry for Siberia. I'm sorry for attacking you, Barnes. I know that what I saw on this video wasn't really you. It was Hydra's fault. I'm pretty sure I would keep calm then" Tony looked at Steve. "If not the fact that the man I considered as an ally at least kept the truth of my parents' death from me."

 "Anyway, it wasn't about hurting your brainwashed friend, Rogers. It was about hurting you" Tony ended.

"Well it didn't look like that. You were trying to kill him, not me" 

While Steve was speaking he stood up and came closer to Tony. It caused the second man to stand as well leaving only Bucky still sitting in his chair.

Tony sighed. "The first thing is that I didn't want to kill anyone. The second is that it was you that ended up almost killing me. And third..." Tony had to turn his head up at Steve to look into his eyes. He hated to be shorter than most of his teammates sometimes. "Is that you would easily let yourself be killed if it meant that it would save him. The choice was easy. Doing harm to him would hurt you more than harming you." 

Steve crossed his own hands looking at Tony with stiff glare.

"And that's what I'm sorry for. For hurting the both of you" Tony continued. "I should have stopped myself. I really considered you as my friend"

Steve's glare softened when he came closer to Tony. He didn't even need his Super Soldier's abilities to notice that the shorter man panicked a little bit and almost took a step back at the movement.

"You know, as a friend you were-" Steve took a deep breath "You are indeed close to me. Even after all of this.

And I'm sorry too. For many things. Far too many things. Mainly about Siberia. For lying to you and for leaving you there. I..." Steve looked at Tony in search for any injuries even if it all happened two years ago. "...I didn't want to hurt you"

"Yeah. I'm alright" Tony said and looked away.

Bucky finally stood up. "No, you aren't. That fight affected you. We're not stupid" He stood in front of Tony and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"I knew Howard. I heard that he changed after the war but still" Bucky continued. "And Maria. I didn't know her. She had to be a great woman. I'm sorry that you lost them because of me."

Tony sighed. "I know it wasn't your fault. It wasn't your choice. We can't blame you for it just like we can't blame Clint for the battle in New York."

 

"And yet everyone is blaming you for Ultron" until now no one noticed Loki standing in the doors.

"Did I really never tell you to stop sneaking up like that?" Tony said raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"I just came to tell you that the rest of the Rogues is here" Loki answered.

"Let them in, then"

 

...

 

When everyone was sitting in the conference room Tony stood up and spoke again.

"So we met here after all of this shit that happened years ago" he started. "But now we need each other again. There are battles that we have to fight."

"Why should we help you?" Wanda asked. "We are not even allies anymore"

"The two of us?" Tony pointed at himself and the girl. "No. But it's not a secret that you care about Vision. Even now everyone can see it. If we don't stop Thanos, your boyfriend will die. And the rest of us? Well, the first reason we met was to save the world. Saving the universe seems to be something even more important to me"

"What do you mean? Who's Thanos?" Natasha asked.

Right then the one and only Nick Fury entered the room. Was he waiting there for a perfect moment to come in?

"A mad Titan who is collecting the Infinity Stones to wipe out half of the life in the universe. At least that's what he told me" he said and pointed at Strange.

"There are six Infinity Stones. Three of them he already has. Space Stone, Reality Stone, Power Stone. The other two is on Earth. In this room. I have the Time Stone and Vision has the Mind Stone. If Thanos takes it Vision will die. We don't  know where the last one is. The Soul Stone was known to be in Alfheim. One of the Nine Realms." Doctor Strange said.

"Some of you will go there. You will try to find it and destroy it" Fury continued. "The old team. Stark, Rogers, Clint, Natasha, Thor. Bruce won't go. We don't want him to Hulk out. If he does, Elves won't help us. So Loki will go with you instead. He knows Elvish language and we don't know if Elves know ours. If it is necessary he and Thor will be your translators."

"Wait, what do you mean Elves?" Clint asked. "Like from 'The Lord of the Rings'?"

Loki was kind of proud of himself for knowing the title. Tony for some reason made him watch all of the movies and all of 'the Hobbit' ones. "Surprisingly yes. Really similar. I am not sure if one of them didn't leave the Alfheim just to talk to Tolkien when he was writing the books and later to talk to the ones making the movies. Though they are worse in reality"

"Did you watch 'The Lord of the Rings'? How is that possible?" Clint couldn't believe what he just heard.

"I think he just spent too much time with me" Tony answered.

Nick Fury cleared his throat. "Anyway, the rest of you is not going to Alfheim and stays here in case Thanos will come to Earth for the Stones. You will protect them". 

He pointed to the group that is not staying in Midgard. "I think you should start packing. You are leaving tomorrow."

"Your rooms are ready. Ask F.R.I.D.A.Y. and she will tell you where to go" Tony finished and everyone except him and Loki left the room.

 

"That went good" Tony said.

"Yes. It actually did" Loki agreed. He kissed Tony gently on his forehead and eventually walked out too.

 

...

 

"Should I go there?" Tony said to himself or maybe to F.R.I.D.A.Y when Loki was gone. She was younger than J.A.R.V.I.S. but she knew almost everything about her maker.

"My parents didn't send me here without a reason. But they never told me to not come back.

They don't even have to know. I should keep my Midgardian form there too. 

But I miss them, you know?

I don't even know if they are alive. What if something happened when I was gone? What if the war didn't really end?

I have to see them.

What do you think, Fri?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly don't know what to write here this time.
> 
> So maybe I'll just say that I have the next chapter almost ready.  
> It's going to be shorter I think but I hope it'll be good anyway.
> 
> And again thank you for reading, leaving kudos and comments. I know that I already said that but knowing that someone likes makes me a little happier person every time :)
> 
> And I'm sorry for not replying to your comments but sometimes it's just that I don't want to give you any spoilers. 
> 
> So please...
> 
> Forgive me for that one...


	8. Chapter 8

One day later they were already in one of Stark's spaceships. Clint was piloting while Thor was trying to explain him how to get to Alfheim.

Natasha and Loki were sitting in the opposite sides of the ship. They were staring clearly not trusting each other.

The other two, Steve and Tony, were standing in the back. The ship was big enough that the rest of the team couldn't hear them because of the distance.

"I kind of understand you now" Tony said. "This whole thing about keeping secrets from the ones we care about"

"What do you mean? Are you keeping something from the team?" 

Steve didn't get an answer. 

"You are keeping something from him" Steve guessed and pointed at Loki.

There was another moment if silence before Tony spoke.

"Yes. I do" he sighed deeply. " I really wanted to tell him at the beginning. The thing was that I promised to keep it as a secret.

But now? It feels wrong. Keeping it hidden. And telling it may have more consequences than I previously thought."

"I still don't know what are you talking about" Steve said. "But I think you should tell him before it's too late. I know something about keeping secrets too long"

"You're probably right"

"So Loki. You really love him, don't you?" Steve said.

Tone closed his eyes. "He changed. From the last time we met him. Actually it was Thanos who sent an army to New York and gave him the Sceptre. 

And Loki? I guess I love him. I don't even know how but he became close to me. Right now I would be ready to die for him.

I don't think I could really live without him"

 

...

 

When Natasha changed Clint in a pilot's seat  most of the team was already sleeping. There was at least two days until they'll reach their destination.

At one point Tony decided to join Loki in his bed. He laid next to the god.

But the sleep didn't come to him. Instead he was just lying here and thinking.

 

What if it would be even better? If Loki would kill him after learning the truth?

In that case Tony wouldn't have to live any day without him.

It would hurt. Being killed by someone you love. But living with a knowledge that the one you love is living somewhere and you can't be with him would hurt more.

So that's it. Tony decided he will tell him. Maybe just not yet.

He will tell him after they find and destroy the Soul Stone.

It won't even be a bad death, right?

After saving the universe and making sure that everyone Tony cares about will be save.

 

And he was lying here watching Loki sleeping until Tony fell asleep too.

 

....

 

On the next day Tony finally talked to Clint.

Honestly, the engineer didn't want to. Well maybe it's not the right word.

He wanted to mend fences with Clint. But he also wanted to be with Loki as much as he can before telling the truth.

"You know, your family misses you" Tony said when he finally decided to talk to the archer. "I'm sorry I couldn't find a way for you to meet again but you should do that when you come back."

"Can I? It won't be breaking law anymore?" Clint asked surprised.

"Yeah. I mean, Laura seemed to be still pissed of at you a little when I saw her last time. But she loves you. I think she'll let you come back home."

"You saw her. Why?" The archer still wasn't sure to trust Tony.

"I just had to make sure they're alright after this 'civil war'" Tony explained. "I really didn't want it to end that way. I don't even know if you believe but I really tried to find a way to bring all of you back home."

"I think we're good. I still think that it's your fault that I had to leave US. But I believe it's not what you wanted. It's okay. It's going to be nice to have you and your amazing arrows back. Seriously, how can you make it so good? You don't even know how to use a bow"

 

 

...

 

 

ONE DAY LATER

 

"Okay, everyone gets in their seats we're landing" Natasha warned and everyone moved to do exactly what she said.

But before they could sit down something hit their spaceship. Everything was loud with alarms going off.

"Everyone hold on to something! Our engines are down, we're falling!"

"Can't you just fix it?" Loki shouted to Tony.

"Of course I could. But not now. We're falling too fast" Tony shouted back.

 

Seconds later their ship hit the ground and everything went black.

 

...

 

ALFHEIM, ONE HOUR AGO

Ehrendil was planning to leave the castle and head to Ashothyr, his home city. He hasn't seen his grandparents for almost five decades now.

He didn't want to come back before. He was afraid of seeing his home after the war. He knew that his parents died then, in the 1975.

Staying in Iherius, capital of Alfheim wasn't easy. Lyari, his younger friend dissappeared then too. But there were people that Ehrendil knew even when the prince was gone.

Even the King of Alfheim was checking on him sometimes. He knew that Ehrendil was his son's best friend. He actually was the one that decided that Ehrendil was the right person to take care of the prince when his parents couldn't. Even though he was fifteen then, Ehrendil was known to be responsibe and reliable. And the prince loved his comany. 

Lathlaeril knew his parents too. Ehrendil's father and mother were two of the best warriors in Alfheim. They even fought in the battle with Asgardians thousands of years ago.

Ehrendil's grandparents' were much older. His grandfather was considered as one of the oldest living Elves in the whole Realm. His grandmother was only a little younger. Definitely no more than two hundred years.

The young warrior decided that it's time for him to come back to them.

He already packed everything and was on his way to throne room when one of Elven sorcerers came to him and started talking really fast. Something happened then. When Ehrendil knew what was that, he ran to the king to tell him.

 

"My king, there's a spaceship. It's going to land next to the Mountain of Itham. What should we do?" Asked Ehrendil.

Tall man the tall man was sitting his overgrown with flowers crystal throne. "Are they armed?"

"Yes. But, my king, you should know who is in the ship" the warrior said.

"Then who is it?" The king asked.

"Four Midgardians that we don't recognize and two people known as Princes of Asgard" 

The king's expression changed from intrigued to angry when he stood up. "Are they really that stupid to come here armed? Shot them down. But not to kill. Put some spell on them"

"What spell, your highness?"

"Just knock them out. Put them in dungeons when they'll be unconscious "

 

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So they are on Alfheim finally.
> 
> It took them long enough.
> 
>  
> 
> And Tony came to the point when he is actually ready to tell the truth and die because he can't live without Loki. 
> 
> It really breaks my heart. Why did I write this...?
> 
>  
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like it :)


	9. Chapter 9

Tony woke up in almost complete darkness.

Wait, what? Darkness? It can't be. He installed backup lights by himself. 

But there is some source of light. A... torch?

No. It can't be too. Why would they have a torch in spaceship? That doesn't make sense.

Just then the last memories came back to Tony. They almost reached Alfheim. And then they were falling.

They must have survived it. Did they?

Tony looked around himself and saw five bodies lying on the floor. He ran to them to check the pulse.

They were alive. And it was a huge weight off his shoulders.

But where are they? It looks like cell. Tony never wasn't in dungeons on Alfheim as a kid. But he heard stories. It could be it.

It could be hours, it could be minutes before Tony heard someone's steps. He stood up quickly and came closer to the bars.

He heard someone talking. Two people. Man and woman. Their language wasn't English for sure. When they stood in front of him he could see that the woman was holding another torch and the man was holding a sword. They stopped walking but they didn't stop talking.

"What should we do with them? They can't stay here forever. Midgardians are mortals. They will die within even a century" the man said. It wasn't easy to remember the meaning of the words in the language Tony was speaking in his childhood but when he did remember it wasn't so hard anymore.

"I agree with you. But we have to follow our orders" the woman answered. "Look. One of them is awake."

"He shouldn't be. The spell was powerful enough even for Asgardians" the man frowned. His face looked so familiar to Tony. But where he saw it before? Green eyes, extremely light blonde, almost white hairs. But no. It's impossible. Or is it?

"Ehrendil? Is that you?" Tony finally asked in Elvish.

Said man frowned even more and came closer to the cell. "How do you know my name? How do you know our language, mortal?"

"First thing is a have a name too. It's Tony. Second, I need to see the queen. Please take me to her" Tony said.

Ehrendil smiled sadly. "I can't take you to our queen. But I can take you to our king"

The woman looked at Ehrendil uncertain. "Are you sure?"

"No, I am not. But I think that the king will want to know why this Midgardian knows Elvish."

The woman took off the rope hanging on the wall. She opened the bars and came in to bond Tony's wrist on his back and pushed him out of the cell. Tony hissed when the rope cut into his skin. It was too tight but he didn't say anything.

"Can I ask you for something?" Tony asked when they headed out of the dungeons.

"It depends on what you want to ask for" the woman said.

"Can you please don't tell them that I know this language?" Tony said.

"Why?" Ehrendil asked intrigued. When he didn't get an answer he spoke again. "Okay. You are really interesting creature. You know our language, know my name and if it wasn't that I haven't met any Midgardian before I could swear that know you." 

 

...

 

After Ehrendil took prisoner to the king he came back to dungeons to watch over the rest of intruders. 

After two hours they started to wake up. The first person awake but really disoriented was the man that Ehrendil recognized as the Prince of Asgard. Or maybe the king now. Ehrendil heard rumors about Odin's death.

Not that he was sorry. Most of people were talking about that as the best news in a few centuries. Ehrendil was kind of happy to hear it too. He heard about all those warriors that died in the battle with Asgardians.

Someone else started moving when Thor woke up. Ehrendil recognized him as Loki, Thor's younger brother. Though he wasn't sure anymore. He also heard rumors that Loki isn't really Asgardian. That he is from Jotunheim. If you'd ask any Elf which is worse: Asgardians or Frost Giants you wouldn't get simple answer. Asgardians were far more civilized. But Frost Giants never betrayed any one of Elves. Mostly because they were staying out of each other's way.

When Loki was fully awake he quickly noticed that counting him there is only five people inside the cell. In a few next seconds he was holding the bars trying to pull them out.

The movement caused Ehrendil to take a few steps back.

"Where is he?!" Loki asked (rather shouted) in Elvish.

"He's speaking with the king" Ehrendil answered in the same language.

Loki was full of rage but he didn't say anything.

"Is Tony save?" Natasha said when she saw the said man was missing. No one noticed that she was already awake before. But then everyone saw that Steve and Clint wasn't lying on the floor anymore, too. Both of them were sitting against the wall.

"Why do you even care. You betrayed him" Loki muttered.

"She just wants to know if he's okay" Steve stood up.

"Well, you are even better. You left him in some bunker to die" Everyone could hear sarcasm in Loki's answer.

"He wasn't even in that bad shape!" Steve protested.

"You never really checked, did you?" Loki laughed sarcastically. "He was bleeding out. If that man you call Vision wouldn't find him as fast as he did Tony would be already dead. I know, I saw his scars from your shield."

"I didn't know" Steve whispered as he sat down again looking paler.

 

"Do you still want to know an answer to the question?" Ehrendil finally asked. In English this time.

"Yes" Thor spoke for the first time.

"Well, I don't really know. He should be safe since he isn't Asgardian" Ehrendil said. "But he came with you two so I can't be really sure"

 

There was another moment of silence.

 

"What should we do now?" Steve said still sitting on the floor.

"You could tell me why are you here" Ehrendil suggested.

"We don't even know you. And depending on that you are on the opposite side of the bars we should rather say that you are our enemy" Natasha came closer to Loki and put a hand on his shoulder to make him sit down.

"Believe me or not I don't really want you to be here. I should be out of this city right now" Ehrendil sat down as well.

Clint sighed. "We're here because we are looking for the Soul Stone. They say it can be here"

"Son of Barton, I am not sure it is good idea to tell everyone about our intentions" Thor said.

"We would have to tell some of them anyway. Now it doesn't really matter" Loki muttered.  
   
"The Soul Stone" Ehrendil repeated. "I have no idea where it could be. But the king may know that."

"You think he's going to tell us?" Steve asked.

"No, I don't think so. Maybe he would tell you before The Last War but now I wouldn't count for it" Ehrendil moved closer to the bars.

"What happened in 'The Last War'?" Clint appeared to be interested in what Ehrendil was saying.

"Many things. We were attacked by Thanos. It's a part of bigger history. But I think you have time to listen.

You are not the first ones to be looking for the Soul Stone here. There were battles thousands of years ago. They were cruel and many of us died.

I don't know what exactly happened. The intruders were sure it was hidden somewhere in The Dragon Mountains. But when they came there it wasn't here already. 

They left our Realm leaving behind nothing more than death and blood.

Believe me or not but lifes on Midgard or Asgard doesn't mean the same it means here. When you kill Elf you are not taking a few decades, centuries or thousands of years. You are taking him away all eternity.

That's why we don't forget any single betrayal.

After that war in The Dragon Mountains there were thousands of years living in peace.

Counting in your years, in 1970 the Prince of Alfheim was born. He was named Lyari.

I used to know him. I was ten years older than him. But he was my best friend. He was like a younger brother to me."

 

"You are telling 'he was'" Steve noticed. "Why?"

 

Ehrendil didn't answer to Rogers' question. But weren't that tears in his eyes?

After few minutes that felt for him like years, he spoke again

"Im sorry. But I don't think that it's what you want to hear"

"No. It's okay. You can keep talking. We don't have anything else to do anyway" Natasha said. "I'm sorry for your loss"

"Don't be" Loki tried to stand up. "He doesn't deserve it"

"Don't be an ass, Loki" She told him while keeping him sitting on the ground. "Besides, knowing the whole story will help us to uderstand what the king is going to do and how are we going to convince him to help us."

"May I ask" Thor spoke. "Who were the intruders from that war thousands of years ago?"

Ehrendil laughed but it was bitter. "Of course Odin didn't tell you. Why would he? You were just his sons."

Thor and Loki frowned.

"Part of them was just some kind of aliens. We won, they lost" Ehrendil continued. "But who came later was bigger surprise to everyone. 

 

The ones that came to us before we could get ready to fight again after the previous battle were no one else but Asgardians"

 

"No. It can't be. We would have known" Thor protested.

 

Loki started laughing. "But it would make sense." His laugh started becoming maniac at one point. "So much sense. Odin always lied to us. It would be just a little more.

He didn't tell me I was adopted. He didn't tell us about Hela. 

We know Elves and Asgardians were allies thousands of years ago. He ruined that. Because he was looking for some stupid stone he didn't even find."

 

"So you trust him, my brother?" Thor asked confused.

"No. No no no. Of course not" Loki said. "But it can be true"

 

"And what happened here after 'The Last War'?" Clint didn't really care about Thor's and Loki's problems.

"The king stopped trusting almost anyone. He became brutal to his enemies. I think it's miracle that he let you live." Ehrendil said. "The queen left Alfheim few years ago. It's not the first time. She wasn't here for a few months after the war against Asgardians and she wasn't here before the one against Thanos.

People are telling that she knows where the Soul Stone is. Maybe she was the one who hid it. 

If she really knows that, our king most likely knows too.

But I can't just bring all of you to him without orders. 

You have to hope that your friend knows what is he doing"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okaay
> 
> There is another chapter.
> 
> I know, nothing really happened here  
> Or at least not much. 
> 
> But I have to go through this.
> 
> Also I have winter holidays now so I'm going to have more time for writing. I hope that I'll be able to post another chapters more often.
> 
>  
> 
> And of course  
> Thank you for reading <3


	10. Chapter 10

Tony was thrown into the throne room by Ehrendil. He was on his knees with his hands still on his back. 

It hurts, Tony thought. But he couldn't really do anything. He did try anyway and few seconds later he was sure it was a bad idea. The rope around his wrists and forearms was too tight. When Tony moved, it cut through his skin and he could feel some blood running down to his fingers. 

The room. It was really dark. Darker than Tony remembered. Last time he was here it was light and full of joy. There was more people for sure. Now when Ehrendil left, Tony could swear it was only him and that woman here. 

Until he saw a man standing in the shadows. The figure slowly took a step forward revealing the face Tony quickly recognized.

"Why did you bring him here?" The man asked. 

"My king, that Midgardian spoke in our language. He asked to bring him to her majesty. We decided that you should see him" the woman said. 

"That would be all then. Elasha, you should go now" the king nodded signing her to leave. 

So it's 'Elasha'. Tony never heard of someone with that name. She must be young. Or maybe she was living far away and Tony never had a chance to meet her. 

Elasha did what she was told and walked out. When she closed that ridiculously (as Tony thought) big doors, the king spoke again. 

"I can't say I'm not surprised" he came closer, not even looking at the prisoner. "We don't have many... guests." 

"Maybe that's why you don't know how to act when you have one" Tony said. 

The king laughed altough the smile didn't reach his eyes. "You are really interesting human. But I am not sure if you are that brave or maybe just that stupid to speak to me like that" The man finally looked down on Tony. "I bet that you know who I am, if you know this language and wanted to speak with the queen, not with me." 

"You're Lathlaeril. The king of this Realm." Tony looked directly king's eyes. "The son of Maeraddyth. You are now exactly 3021 years old. I was hoping to talk to your wife, Ithirae, which you married after the war with Asgardians when your father died." 

"There's nothing that Asgardians couldn't tell you before." 

"So I see that I'm here to prove that I'm worth wasting your time." Tony rather said than asked. "Okay, then. What about that? You had a son. His name was Lyari. He decided to fight in the war but he survived. You sent him away far from Alfheim." 

Tony saw confusion in Lathlaeril's eyes. But he continued anyway. "I was wondering. Did you even love him? You left him completely alone. You would let him to _die_ on Midgard, wouldn't you?" 

"You don't know _anything_! I did what I had to!" Lathlaeril was full of rage. "But you shouldn't know anything about my son. Who told you that much?!" 

Tony didn't say anything. 

"Answer to me!" The king shouted. 

But Tony still didn't even move. 

Lathlaeril swallowed, trying to calm himself. His hand was now on his sword's grip and his next words were just cold. "Maybe if I will kill your friends you will start talking." 

"No. You will not kill them. You never wanted to start another war with Asgardians" Tony said, even if it was less confident than before. 

"Asgard was destroyed and Odin is dead." Lathlaeril started walking toward the doors, leaving his prisoner behind. "Trust me I will not hesitate to kill any single one of them. And I will not hesitate to make you watch them die." 

 

Tony closed his eyes. He shouldn't be here. 

He shouldn't come back and he's not sure how Lathlaeril would react to seeing him there. 

But he knew his father. Lathlaeril was wise and he would stop himself from doing something that could be dangerous to him and his kingdom. What a shame that right now Asgard was no threat.

 

Thank god that the throne room was so big and the king didn't have time to leave it yet. 

"Wait!" Tony opened his eyes and slowly let himself turn back to his real form. "I will tell you everything." 

Lathlaeril stopped but didn't turn back. "I'm listening" 

... 

 

"I'm afraid you will have to see this yourself" Lathlaeril hesitated for a moment but eventually he turned around. He didn't expect what he saw. 

The prisoner - Midgardian, two seconds ago he was sure it was just Midgardian - was different. Well, 'Midgardian's' clothes were still the same. The first difference was hair. It was longer. Like, really long. 

The king started walking back to face his prisoner. He already could see the kneeling man's now pointed ears. There was no way Lathlaeril would still believe that the man now in front of him was Midgardian. 

He wanted to ask 'who are you' but the words didn't come out of his mouth when he saw the man's face. Even if younger, it looked pretty similar to what it looked like before. If you wouldn't count the goatee. And eyes. 

The _eyes_.

Deep grey, almost silver eyes. There was only one person Lathlaeril had ever seen with exactly the same iris color. 

Lathlaeril grabbed the man's hairs and lifted him up to make him stand and pulled his head back. The man struggled before standing still when the king raised his sword to the man's neck. 

Was that some sort of trickery? The ruler thought. Why would someone do this? No, it had to be... 

It had to be his son. 

When Lathlaeril realised how close his blade now is to cutting through _his own child's_ throat, his eyes eyes widened. He didn't even know that his hands unclenched until he heard the clink when his sword fell to the floor. 

"My son" was all he could say in that moment. 

"Father-" tha said man started. 

But in the next second Lathlaeril was already holding him in his arms. Altough the son didn't hug him back. 

That was the thing that reminded Lathlaeril that the other still had the ropes on his arms and wrists. The king was untying them when his son spoke again. 

"You know, I could get rid of it long time ago" 

"Well, you did not." Lathlaeril ended his work. "And I would not be so sure. These ropes are meant to last even if exposed to inhuman strength or magic even like the Asgardian one." 

"You're underestimating me." The son laughed. "My magic was always bigger than all of those inventions and artefacts." 

"Indeed" Lathlaeril responded with almost a smile and started checking his son's head, neck and arms for any injuries he could cause.  He frowned when he saw many lines of blood where the ropes cut through skin. "I am so sorry. If I knew it was you-" 

"You didn't. And even if it wouldn't be me," the son looked up to meet his father's eyes "I don't remember you were so cruel before. Today you were ready to kill the rest even if they themselves didn't do anything to you." 

"Lyari-" 

"I go by Tony now" 

The king gave him a glare but continued. "There is many things you didn't know about the last time you saw me. You were six. Regardless your intelligence, we couldn't let you know about everything. You were just a kid-" 

"I'm sure all of it didn't look like that then!" Tony looked really hurt right then. "You were considered as a wise, merciful, good. And this place," he pointed around himself. "It wasn't dark. It used to be bright, full of live. You changed it. You changed yourself!" 

"Do you really blame me?" Lathlaeril was still calm and didn't raise his voice as Tony did. "The day we had to send you away we lost many people. Families lost their members, we lost many friends and warriors. I cannot let anything like this happen ever again. Even if it means that I have to be cruel. 

But that wasn't the thing that changed me. 

We lost you. We lost you for so long." 

Lathlaeril closed his eyes but he was sure he saw how his son's glare softened before he did so. He continued anyway. "We couldn't see you anymore. We couldn't know anything about your life on Midgard. It was too dangerous. It still is. When Thanos is still collecting the Infinity Stones, Alfheim is not a place where you can really be safe." 

"So this is about Thanos?" Tony asked, though he wasn't really surprised. He didn't understand why Thanos was actual reason why his parents sent him to Midgard but as it seems like everything is about Thanos or Infinity Stones now. 

"Well, then it's kind of really funny thing. Thanos will be soon coming to Earth. That's why we came here. We need to know where the Soul Stone is." 

"Not where it should be" Lathlaeril opened his eyes. 

"That's not the kind of answer that I need." The king sighed. "It's going to be on Midgard when you'll come there. But you should avoid fighting directly against Thanos. He cannot know where it is. The lack of knowledge on his side is what kept it safe for forty years now. I would prefer to keep it hidden." 

"You have to tell me more. We have to find it. And we have to destroy it." 

"You should not" Lathlaeril said. His voice was cold again. 

"We have to stop him!" Tony protested. "And we won't be able to beat him. But if he'll get all of them he will actually wipe out half of the universe. And you may not care about Midgard or about what's left from Asgard. But it will count Alfheim as well. You lost many people, you'll lose more if we won't stop him. Not mentioning that you can die then as well. Mom can die. Any of us." 

"I am sorry, my son. But I cannot tell you more than I already did. Believe me, it is for your own good. In some way it is for the universe's good the same. Even if you do not know why" 

"Then tell me why. Why are you keeping that from me?" 

Lathlaeril took another deep breath. " _It is for your own good_." 

Tony let his hands fall to his sides but didn't say anything. 

 

"Those people you came with. Midgardians, Asgardians. Do you really trust them?" Lathlaeril asked after a few moments of silence. 

"Only one of them is Asgardian." Tony pointed out.

"Ah, yes. Prince Loki" Lathlaeril again walked slowly to the doors, though this time Tony followed him. "I can't see how much it changes if he was raised on Asgard as well." 

"Even if you put it that way. Odin lied to both of them. Not only about the war. Loki hated him as much as you did. He himself may did some bad things, some of them still affect us. But I trust him about this one." Tony said. "And Thor? You can say all you want about Odin. But his son is one of the most trustful person I've ever met. Actually I have more second thoughts about the rest. They all have already left me, betrayed me. But we sure as hell are all going to take our revenges on Thanos. So on that one thing I do trust all of them" 

"Then I have to free them." Lathlaeril said altough he seemed to be hesitant again. 

At his words Tony started shifting again to his Midgardian form. The king quickly noticed that. 

"So you did not tell them." Lathlaeril noted. 

"As mom said. Don't tell anyone. Even if there's someone we care about." Lathlaeril frowned but he didn't say anything for some time. 

They finally reached to the doors. Lathlaeril opened them with one simple move of his hand and spoke again. "You should stay here for a night or two. Your ship is completely destroyed." 

"Well thank you for that" Tony said sarcastically. 

"You can stay here. I will bring them. And I will make sure the chambers will be ready for all of you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okayyy I wasn't here for some time.
> 
> I really thought that I will have more time to write. And I actually did.
> 
> But I really and completely didn't know how to write this one. I just couldn't find the right words.
> 
> And then, when I actually knew what to write, I got sick and writing was the last thing I wanted to do. 
> 
> But I did this so here's the next chapter.
> 
>  
> 
> Agaain I hope you like it 
> 
> and thank you for leaving kudos and comments. It means very much for me.
> 
> And thank you for reading this 
> 
>  
> 
> I'm writing this at the end of all of the chapters.
> 
>  
> 
> But I am really thankful


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> I wasn't here for some time, for what I am really sorry. Last month was crazy to me, it was full of studying and the exams will be very soon. Altough I wasn't studying for them.
> 
> But I did it!  
> I wrote the next chapter!  
> Yay!
> 
> I am sorry for not responding to the comments as well, I will try to do it next time. But I am really grateful for them, as much as for reading and leaving kudos.
> 
>  
> 
> Aaand
> 
> I have to say that some time ago I started naming the first chapters. The titles are quotes from songs, I will write from which at the end of the whole story.
> 
>  
> 
> I think I have said enough, now have fon reading this chapter.  
> I hope You will like it!

Loki was sitting in the corner and was trying to think of a plan to get out of here. Clearly, the rest of so called team was too busy listening to the tales of that Elf.

When Loki's attention was still on the guard's speach, the Elf told them that their freedom was now depending on whether Tony will be able to convince the king to help them fight Thanos. But Loki was sure that he himself can't depend on that. It was to risky and he didn't know what the king would do if Stark fails.

He was really worried even if he was trying to hide it as good as he can.

 

It could be minutes, it could be hours before Loki could hear something interesting. A light footsteps heading down, closer to the prisoners with every single step.

Finally, a new person appeared in front of the team. When Loki recognized them he couldn't help it - he threw a dagger he kept hidden with his magic right into the king's face.

The dagger stopped just before it could hit the ruler's head and it fell on the floor with a loud click.

The king seemed to be annoyed by Loki's action, though no one could tell how much effort he had to put to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

On the other side Loki after sparing him a second glance was staring at him a little surprised. 

The king looked surprisingly familiar even though Loki hasn't seen him anytime before with his own eyes. But the long dark hair, the shade almost like... Tony's? Actually the whole face of the ruler had something like Tony's one. Altough the latter's looked older and wasn't as pale. And Loki was sure that Tony's eyes were brown, not a light blue or grey.

A funny thing, Loki thought. His thoughts were stopped when the king started speaking.

"I decided to let you out of this prison." Lathlaeril sighed deeply but continued before anyone else could say anything. "For now. I believe we have to find a way to stop our enemy. As much as you can be sure I wouldn't want to even look at some of you under other circumstances."

In that moment Ehrendil opened the bars with the key that appeared in his hand. When nothing was keeping the prisoners inside anymore Thor took a step forward.

"If what your guard said is true, I feel like I need to apologize for what my father did" he said. "And I am grateful for your trust."

Loki crossed his arms and tried to look anywhere except king's eyes.

But Lathlaeril clenched his jaw and nodded. "It is not you who I trust, I'm afraid. The..." he coughed "...Midgardian spoke to me. I trust him."

As the whole conversation was in Elvish, Steve, Clint and Natasha just kept frowning, trying to understand the unknown words. Eventually the only woman in the prison was the one to stand next to Loki.

"What are they saying?" She merely whispered. 

"Oh, I am truly sorry" the king answered in English, letting the others know that he heard her clearly and understood perfectly. "Forgive me, for we don't use Midgardian languages that often. You are lucky that Ehrendil was the one to have an eye on you. Not many knows the languages of other Realms and even fewer are gifted in all speach. 

As I said before, we will have to speak about the Stone and what you are going to do with it. On that purpose, I invite you for a thing I believe you call a dinner." Lathlaeril's sight was travelling through the prisoners, clearly judging them. "I am sure that Ehrendil will help you to prepare. The chambers are ready." With that words he started walking out of the dungeons, leaving his not-anymore-prisoners behind.

...

 

The team was given in Elven robes, which Loki not so politely rejected. He and Thor changed their clothes by some outfit-changing Asgardian magic, while the Midgardians had to wear in Elvish style. When Ehrendil decided that they looked good enough to be officially speaking with the king they finally went to a place that probably was supposed to be a huge and beautifully decorated dining room.

There were already four people inside. At the end of a table, on a chair that looked more like a throne Lathlaeril was already sitting, while the other three was standing beside him. On king's left Loki noticed Ehrendil and a she-elf that he hasn't seen before. But on king's right...

After the prince of Asgard recognized his lover he wasn't even sure when did he end up in his arms. 

"Anthony" said Loki, still in a tight embrace. And altough no one would say it out loud, Tony knew that the Asgardian was worried.

"Yeah. I'm alright" he took a step back to look into Loki's eyes but he still kept him at arm's length. But the prince was quick to notice the wounds on his arms left by the ropes. He frowned. Before he could say something, Ehrendil's voice filled the room and everyone looked towards him.

"I have the pleasure to officially introduce you to his highness, our king Lathlaeril"

Thor bowed his head, and while Natasha, Clint and Steve followed him, Loki turned his face to the side not wanting to look straight into Elf's eyes. His action was met with a glare from the king, under which Loki felt the pressure to follow his brother against his will. When he did, Lathlaeril gave a sign, and all of the guests sat down on chairs they chose by instinct. That left only two Elves still standing.

"This is Lady Eufemia, one of our finest warriors." Ehrendil turned his head to the left to politely point at the she-elf. "And I believe all of you already know my name." At this words they took their places as well.

After a moment other Elves were walking in the room, serving many different kinds of food  just to dissappear behind the big doors a few moments later. Then the others walked in with istruments, some of them sounding or looking like the ones on Midgard, the rest completely  different. There were played songs that would sound weird to someone from a Realm different than Alfheim, as much as they still were beautiful.

Musicians' clothes even if you couldn't say were really cheaper, looked less expensive than the ones in which you could see Ehrendil or Eufemia. Not mentioning the king of course. 

The robes Tony wore were as well Elvish, actually representing something between Ehrendil's and Lathlaeril's ones. Needs to say, Tony's clothes looked more rich than the robes which were given to the rest of visitors from Midgard. It confused Loki for a little, but he decided to leave it, for probably Elves saw that he would take bigger part in diplomacy than the rest. And as much as the Prince of Asgard has read the books about Alfheim and was in that Realm himself before, he couldn't be really sure about traditions of its people.

Loki was snapped out of his own thoughts when the music changed and was a little quieter than before. When no one was speaking, he chose to do it himself.

"We're here for the Stone. If your 'majesty' doesn't have anything to offer, I don't see a reason for this show"

Thor turned his head to face his brother with a frown. He decided to apologize for his companion's behavior, but before he could say a word he was interrupted.

"Indeed, it is very surprising." The king said with a smirk. He stood up without even making a sound and Thor started to follow. He was stopped when Eufemia quickly caught his shoulder in a gentle but firm grip. In the meantime Lathlaeril turned to face Loki. "I truly expected some better manners from someone of your age. I don't think such behavior is right for someone who lost his homeland, alongside with his right to rule."

Loki clenched his jaw but the king continued. "I  cannot offer you as much as you want. But to offer anything, why would I trust you? Do you think that I cannot see that even you don't trust each other very well?"

"So you will let him do it? You will let Thanos win?" Natasha questioned. "We have heard that your Realm was touched by his cruelty as well. We are your chance to take a revenge and save your people, for if you don't help us, many of them will die as well"

Lathlaeril seemed to consider her words for he rounded the table still deep in thoughts

He sat back on the throne and cleared his throat. "I assure you that I will decide whether to trust you this eve, so we will have time to make a decision. But now it is time for you to enjoy the time, music and food." And with his gesture eating and talking started.

...

"An interesting companionship you all make" said Lathlaeril, his voice in less cold and formal tone, making the atmosphere lighter. "A Midgardian trying to act as any other would do. But a strength you possess didn't come from you." He turned his head to Steve. "You are a leader, aren't you?"

"He's Captain America." Answered Natasha instead.

"Had to do something with army then, as I predicted." The king turned his attention to Natasha. "But you are the dangerous one. You can do more than you want others to know. You must have been trained by someone really good."

"'Good' is not a word I would use" it was her expression that turned cold this time. Lathlaeril frowned, unobtrusively trying to read her face. He gave up after a few moments, studying Clint instead. 

"Ah, the archer it is. Well trained as well. Altough I was sure Midgardians stopped using bows and arrows some time ago" the king said.

"It's not the most common weapon on Earth, I have to say" was his reply.

"Such a shame" Lathlaeril sighed and turned to his own right. "And a... mortal who managed to talk me into considering giving you any help.  All of you accompanied by two Asgardians" he said, as if the last two weren't worthy of anything more to mention.

"We are surprised as well" said Natasha. "I don't think any of us was expecting you and Stark to look so similar to each other"

"Excactly!" Clint almost shouted. Then he looked towards Tony. "Stark, you look like a father to him!"

Tony himself had a hard time trying to stop himself from laughing. Lathlaeril's eyes widened a little for he was to surprised at the moment to hide his emotions.

 

When nothing was left on their plates on Lathlaeril's command they walked out of the dining room. As it was said 'to change a scenery'. 

They found themselves in a big garden. It was full of life and beauty. Now, under the light of the moon the flowers seemed to be literally glowing a little. 

At the centre of the garden there was an enormous tree, under which there was a small table, this time not filled with food but with wine. To the garden went the musicians as well, followed by a servant with eight glasses already filled. 

When all except Ehrendil were given with the glass, Tony looked at the drink with clear satisfaction.

"Finally an alcohol! I have missed you so much"

But before he could even take a sip, Lathlaeril was already on his side. The king took the glass using a little force from Tony's hand. He started looking into it in a theatrical way, after few moments he spoke, drawing attention from everyone.

"I am curious, did you know that the Elves aren't allowed to drink alcohol if they aren't at least hundred years old yet? Altough we look as a grown up as fast as Midgardians, it is a first century of life in which the Elf can become easily addicted."

Tony tried to take his glass back, annoyed when Lathlaeril held it out of his reach. "Well that's a good thing than on Midgard we are able to drink it much earlier. Many of us wouldn't even have a chance to try in their whole life if it was there the same as here" Tony said but before he could try again, the king already placed it on his lips and drank from it himself.

...

 

The time passed calmly, while being full of beautiful music, views and wine, even of the last one wasn't for everyone. When the evening was coming to an end to replace itself with the night, Lathlaeril already stood in front of his guests.

"I will help you." He said. "But on my own terms. What I can tell you of the Stone is nothing more than I already told one of you. I think it will be on Earth when Thanos will come for it. But Thanos is not just a random enemy you will have to face. So I am sending some of my people with you to make sure my plan works."

"And what is your plan?"  Loki said, with a little of challenge and a little suspicions.

"The Stone cannot be destroyed." Almost everyone frowned at these words. "Instead you will use it."

"For what?" Asked Thor.

"To take the others from Thanos. And then to bring back all the lifes he took." The king paused to look up to the stars. "Every single one of them."

"It is madness" said Loki. "Even if we did manage to take all the Stones, using them for that will almost certainly kill the one who tried."

The silence fell upon them.

 

"I will do it" 

Everyone turned towards Tony almost in total disbelief, altough there was fear in the eyes of both Loki and Lathlaeril.

"Tony..." Steve started

"My friend, Son of Stark won't do it." Thor interrupted. "It will take a power of stronger creature than Midgardian to even have a chance."

"Then give me some time with my technology" Tony said. "I will find a way to do it myself"

"We don't have the time"

"It is me or Thor then" Loki noticed.

"No" the king stated. "I will not let an Asgardian to have the power putting my people in that great danger. Some of my finest warriors should be able to do it."

"So you are willing to give a death sentence to one of yours?" Loki asked.

"It will be a death in honour with knowledge of being the one who saved more than billions, besides it is not a sure death" Lathlaeril answered.

"What if we don't choose now?" Tony placed a hand on Loki's shoulder. "None of you will come to agreement. But they're going with us anyway. Let's just say that the one with the best opportunity will take the Stones."

"I don't trust this king anyway. I won't trust his people" Loki said.

"I trust them. It has to be enough."

 

...

 

When everything was settled and it was said that the team will leave in a few days, everyone  
left the room to head to their chambers. At the moment Lathlaeril saw Tony walking alongside with Loki, he quickened his own pace to soon be just behind them.

"Son of Stark" he said, but both of the guests turned around to face him. "Can I get a word with you?"

A little surprised Tony nodded. Next to him stood Loki, clearly with not even thoughts about leaving the other two alone.

The king sighed. "Just the two of us." 

Loki raised his eyebrows but after another nod from Tony he continued walking to the chambers, leaving the two behind. They waited for him to be far enough to not hear anything they were going to say.

"I don't want to talk with you." Tony stated. "You took my wine from me."

Lathlaeril laughed. "Since when are you more than century old?"

"To your knowledge, I have drunk the alcohol before, so your efforts were useless."

"Your mother would have killed me for letting you drink." The king kept smiling.

"She wouldn't have to know."

Lathlaeril started walking in the opposite direction from the one Loki took few moments before. "We both know she would know anyway."

Tony followed him, with a smile on his face caused by memories of his wise and intelligent mother. 

"But that is not why I have to talk with you." The king's expression turned cold again. "But I am sure that you would consider that I will notice it anyway."

Tony frowned, not really sure what will be his father's next words.

"Or maybe you didn't know that I will see that you care for that Asgardian" Lathlaeril's words caused Tony to stop. But king just stood in front of him, looking down to meet his son's eyes. "Altough I'm afraid that the word 'care' is much of underestimating. You love him."

Tony swallowed. "So it is a problem to you..?"

"I will not let you spend your life with such creature."

"You are not a person to decide what I am feeling."

Lathlaeril sighed, trying to keep his calm. "Even if he wasn't who he is, you didn't tell him who you are. And he hates us. He hates you. He won't hesitate to hurt you when he knows the truth"

"He won't hesitate to kill me" Tony whispered but he quickly regretted forgetting about Elvish extraordinary hearing.

"You see it! It is stupidity and madness! I will not let you be with him even if it means locking you two away from each other!

"You lost the right to judge my actions when you left me alone in another Realm! In a place where I would probably be locked in lab for experiments if I let them know who I really am. You didn't even know what was happening to me then. You would let me die for all you care! Between the two of us it is you who can be called a foolish hypocrite"

The king's face was full of cold anger at what his son said. He straightened his own posture so he looked even taller than before. "I thought you were taught better than this lack of respect. I am your father and I will not let you act this way towards your parent and king."

"I am not a kid anymore!" Tony protested.

"You are not an adult yet!"

"I don't care who do you think I am!"

Tony felt a slap on his face. He brought his hand to his left cheek, still feeling pain on it.

He looked up and was met with his father's face. His expression, previously full of anger was now full of shock on his own actions. Lathlaeril was now looking on his own shaking right hand like he couldn't believe what he has done. 

"I am so sorry" he said but Tony already turned around and started walking to the guests' chambers. "Please do not go!" Lathlaeril's desperate words were the last thing he heard from his father but he didn't even look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah...
> 
> Poor Tony I guess? I should give him some happiness from time to time. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading!


End file.
